Ireland’s Sunny South East: Come Home in 2019

Happy New Year to all, we hope you enjoyed a peaceful Christmas break!

Even in January, the sun is shining in Wexford (albeit between the rain showers). Beaches along the South Wicklow and North Wexford coastline were busy over the Christmas holidays, with families keen to escape the excesses of the season and blow away the cobwebs.

We know that this is a popular time of the year for people to make big and often life-changing decisions. If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in the Wicklow/Wexford area, or indeed if you have been living away but dreaming of returning, 2019 might just be the right time to come home to Ireland’s Sunny South East.

2018 saw the rate of house price growth slow for the first time since the recovery. To be clear, property prices are still increasing, they are simply increasing at a slower rate. The market is still in difficulty in terms of low supply levels and consistent buyer demand. This is not as gloomy as it sounds, in fact, this translates into quite a competitive marketplace for buyers, which is good news for ready sellers.

For those interested in the new homes market, construction activity has improved over the past 12 months, up from 15,000 homes in 2017 to 18,000 homes in 2018. Output is nowhere near where it needs to be (35,000 homes annually), however, any improvement that will add to the stock of homes for sale or for rent must be welcomed. The industry is being urged by economists and market analysts to stop building three and four-bedroom semi-detached houses and to start building one and two-bedroom apartments. I think this might be an over-simplification of the marketplace and doesn’t necessarily reflect our experiences in a large town like Gorey, which of course is very different to our experiences in smaller, rural towns like Carnew.

With an average home price of €334,000, North Wicklow remains Ireland’s fourth most expensive area after South County Dublin, Dublin City South and Dublin City North. Taking the entirety of County Wicklow into consideration, the average house price increased 6.4% in 2018 to €333,804 according to Daft.ie or €320,000 according to MyHome.ie. Either way, this is significantly higher than the national average price of €254,000. Average property prices across County Wexford increased 7.3% in 2018 to €206,779.

Interestingly, one-bed apartments saw the greatest price increases, with one-bed units up 17.5% in Wicklow and up a massive 18.9% in Wexford. Five-bedroom detached homes in both counties saw the lowest rate of increase, just 1.7% in Wicklow and 3% in Wexford. This is consistent with trends nationwide. There is some positive news for home buyers with stock levels across Leinster increasing by 20% in the last three months of 2018.

Looking ahead into 2019, house prices across County Wicklow and County Wexford are set to increase further. National property price increases of 5% are expected, according to the latest Daft.ie and MyHome.ie reports.

For your FREE, no obligation, valuation in the South Wicklow and North Wexford area, call into one of our offices (located in Carnew and Gorey) and chat to any of our expert team or you can contact us online at www.KinsellaEstates.ie. We are happy to facilitate overseas buyers and sellers via Skype or similar, outside of regular office hours. Alternatively, email me directly on michael@kinsellaestates.ie or telephone: +353 53 94 21718